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i5t’s all connected
The world is filled with living things and non-living things.
Plants and animals are living things. Plants need air, water,
light, nutrients, space and temperature to survive. Animals
need air, food, water, shelter and space. Living things
are able to reproduce and create more of themselves.
Non-living things do not grow or reproduce.
Dra
organism
go
nfl
y
A single living thing is called an
organism. An organism is capable
of growing and reproducing. A dandelion,
a tree, an insect, a frog, a fish, a coyote,
a boy and a girl are a few examples
of organisms.
ail
Catt
Leopard frog
Cottontail rabbits
are able to
reproduce when
they’re about 5
months old.
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it’s NOT alive!
The world is also filled with non-living things.
Non-living things are not made up of living cells. A nonliving thing cannot grow or create more of itself or reproduce.
Sunlight, air, rocks, temperature, water and landforms (hills,
valleys, mountains) are all examples of non-living things that
are not alive but are important for survival of organisms.
Organisms also need soil to survive. Soil is made from tiny
pieces of broken rock (non-living) and small bits of dead
plants and animals (living). Soil also has water and air
(non-living). Living things (some too small to
see without a microscope) live in soil.
A dandelion is one
organism with many tiny
flowers bunched together.
After a dandelion blooms,
each of its tiny flowers
produces a seed.
A human is
an organism.
Populations of
humans can be found
nearly everywhere in the world.
population
A group of the same organisms living together in the same place and at the same
time forms a population. One leopard frog is an organism. All the leopard frogs
living in and around the same pond form a population of leopard frogs.
Each fish is an organism. All the different kinds of fish living
in the same pond form different populations of fish.
Each kind of plant living in or at the edge of the pond
is an organism. All the species of plants living in and
around the pond form different populations of plants.
community
A community is a group of different populations
of organisms. All the organisms must live in
the same place and at the same time to form a
community. All the different populations of plants
and animals (duckweed, cattails, dragonflies,
frogs) living in and around a pond form a
pond community.
summary
Organism—a single living thing
Populations of
bluegill, bass
and catfish
may be found
in many pond
ecosystems.
Dragonfly
populations play
an important
role in an
ecosystem by
eating large
numbers of insects.
Population—a group of the
same organisms living together
Community—different populations
of organisms living together
th
All the populations of plant and animal organisms
living together in communities interact with each
other, or act on each other, and with the non-living
things in their environment. An environment is
the immediate area around a plant or animal.
Living and non-living things that interact in an
environment form an ecosystem.
t
Non-living things interac
wi
ecosystem
Ecosystem
Female white-tailed
deer give birth to one,
two or sometimes three
spotted young called fawns.
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